Holding such a heavy bottle of wine in your hand: we’ve got used to it. But the future calls for sustainable choices. In the world of wine, too. Wine importer and wine enthusiast Henrico van Lammeren, chairman of the Royal Association of Dutch Wine Merchants (KVNW), explains why.
Text: Henrico van Lammeren | Image: Pexels
‘When buying a bottle of wine, people usually focus on the wine itself, sometimes on the label and, of course, on the price. But how many people give the packaging a second thought? Yet it is precisely this packaging that is set to become a key issue in the wine world in the coming period. From August, the new European PPWR (Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation) will come into force. Behind that rather uninspiring acronym lies an ambitious goal: less packaging waste, better recyclability and a lower environmental impact. The wine sector will also be affected by this. Consumers will start to notice the changes. Wine bottles will become increasingly lighter. This saves glass, energy and CO₂ emissions. A lighter bottle can make a significant difference when millions of bottles are transported. But sustainability cannot be measured solely by the weight of a bottle. Nor does the distance a wine travels tell the whole story. Many people think that a wine from a distant country is, by definition, less sustainable than a European wine. Yet that needn’t be the case at all. Wines from, for example, Chile, South Africa or Australia are often transported in large quantities by sea – a surprisingly efficient method of transport. Increasingly, wine is even shipped to Europe in bulk and bottled here, thereby avoiding a great deal of glass transport. On the other hand, a bottle of wine from a European wine-growing region – even that lightweight bottle – sometimes travels hundreds or thousands of kilometres by lorry, a mode of transport with relatively high CO₂ emissions.
The reality is therefore less black and white than we sometimes think. Sustainability depends on the bigger picture: production, packaging and the way the wine is transported. Fortunately, I’m seeing more and more producers and importers making conscious choices in this regard. Not just because regulations require it, but because they understand that quality and sustainability can go hand in hand. In any case, the bottle of the future will be lighter. That is no sign that the wine is any less special. On the contrary: sometimes true quality lies precisely in what you cannot see.’
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